With two new catchers, the Minnesota Twins had a solid duo in 2017. Who has made up the best catching units in Twins history?
The Minnesota Twins have a history that is filled with plenty of successes, headlined by World Series victories in 1987 and 1991. Of course, there are plenty of seasons we would like to forget as well. Here is the next installment of a series where we have been going through the top five of different position groups through Twins history. So far we have covered the outfield, middle infields, and corner infields. Next up is the best catching groups of all-time.
The Twins seem to have been lucky enough over long stretches of time to have some very solid catching situations. There have been some lean years, especially at the front end of Joe Mauer‘s concussion issues, but rarely has that been a huge hole that the Twins have needed to address. Before the 2017 season the Twins did need to address the position and did so by bringing in two catchers, Jason Castro and Chris Gimenez.
Castro was the big free agent signing for the new Twins front office. His ability defensively was one of the big reasons that Castro was targeted by the Twins and it certainly seemed to pay off for the club. Along the way, Castro also had one of his better offensive seasons. His slash line was his best since his 2013 All-Star season as he slashed .242/.333/.388 for the 2017 season. Castro also added 10 home runs and 22 doubles to his numbers. There were also stretches in the season where he just seemed to come up with hits at just the right moments for the Twins.
Gimenez was brought to the Twins on a minor league deal and ended up making the club out of spring training over Mitch Garver and John Ryan Murphy. The career backup catcher saw his most action in any season so far with 225 plate appearances. In those appearances, Gimenez hit .220/.350/.382 with 7 home runs and 9 doubles. He also had plenty of opportunities to try to prove himself as one of the best relief pitchers for the Twins.
This duo actually made a push to be included on the top 5 list. Castro’s 2.5 WAR combined with Gimenez’s 0.7 WAR which combined for a 3.2 WAR had them just sitting outside of it. In case you haven’t been following along, WAR plays a big role in deciding how this list unfolds. It isn’t the only measure though, as sometimes different discernment needs to be used. Without any more delay, let’s get to the first group on our list!
In 1979 the Minnesota Twins went 82-80 on the season and finished 4th in the American League West. A solid season overall, but just not enough to make the playoffs with the playoff format that was in place during the 1979 season. Those Twins did have a good duo taking turns behind the plate.
Butch Wynegar was the primary backstop that season. He appeared in 149 games total and took some days at the DH position when getting a rest from catching duties. During that 1979 season, Wynegar hit .270/.363/.351 with 7 home runs and 20 doubles. It seems strange that in Wynegar’s best professional season he didn’t receive any award consideration even though he was a member of the All-Star team in both 1976 and 1977. The Twins team performance likely had a part in both the inclusions and exclusion from the All-Star squad.
Glenn Borgmann was Wynegar’s backup in 1979. In his final season with the Twins, Borgmann closed the book on a solid eight seasons with the club by hitting .200/.317/.243. Definitely not Borgmann’s most impressive season but after several solid seasons for the Twins he did well to relieve Wynegar from catching duties for 31 games.
As mentioned, Borgmann’s season wasn’t his best and made him good for a -0.1 WAR in 1979. The reason he still gets on this list is in part because of his longevity with the Twins and also what Wynegar was able to do in 1979. Wynegar’s 4.4 WAR buoys this group to a 4.3 combined WAR to number five on the list. He also holds the eighth best WAR by a catcher in a season with his 1979 performance.
In 1990 as the Twins were positioning themselves for a World Series the next season (OK, so they didn’t know that yet) they went 74-88 finishing 7th in the American League West. Another way of saying that is that the Twins finished last. Normally there isn’t much good to say about last place, but in 1990 there was a good duo of catchers.
That season Brian Harper was the primary catcher and was in the midst of several strong seasons for the Twins. In 1990 he hit .294/.328/.432 and added 6 home runs and 42 doubles. Those 42 doubles marked a career high for Harper almost doubling his 28 from the following season.
Harper’s backup that season, Junior Ortiz, came to the Twins in a trade that spring from the Pittsburgh Pirates with Orlando Lind in exchange for Mike Pomeranz. The veteran saw 71 games of action split between catching and DH. He hit .335/.384/.388 and 7 doubles. The 1990 season ended up being Ortiz’s best season of his career.
As a backup player, Ortiz came into the Twins clubhouse and contributed a 1.5 WAR. Harper tied his career high WAR from the previous season with a 2.8 WAR. Together the two catchers tied our number five catching pair with a combined 4.3 WAR. In a splitting hairs move, this pair moved into the four spot since two players truly contributed to this pairing as Ortiz proved to be a quality backup to Harper.
The 2012 Twins season was a rough one. Not 100 loss bad, but not far behind as the team finished with a record of 66-96. It at least got the Twins some good draft picks right? Well, those top draft picks haven’t quite emerged for the Twins yet either. 2012 did give us another good catching duo though!
It all starts with Joe Mauer. In 2012 Mauer hit .319/.416/.446 and added 10 home runs and 31 doubles. As has been pretty normal with Mauer over the years, his on-base percentage ranks towards the top of the league and it was the best in the American League in 2012. That led to Mauer’s fifth of six All-Star appearances to this point in his career.
Backing up Mauer that season and seeing some time at DH for the Twins was Ryan Doumit. After signing as a free agent with the Twins, Doumit was able to play in 134 games for the Twins and slashed .275/.320/.461, hit 18 home runs, and 34 doubles. By the end of Doumit’s time with the Twins many were glad to see him traded, but there is no doubt that he was a solid contributor in his first season with the Twins.
Doumit’s 2012 output gave him a 1.3 WAR on the season. Another solid contribution from a backup catcher for the Twins. Mauer came alongside Doumit with a 4.3 WAR which is the ninth best by a catcher in Twins history. To give you a little foreshadowing, that is only his 6th best WAR for his career! Combined, Mauer and Doumit, had a 5.6 WAR and finish third among all-time catching groups.
The 2003 Twins were one of the teams I personally fell in love with. The team went 90-72 and finished first in the American League Central. It was of course one of the many times that the Twins would then go on to face the New York Yankees in the playoffs and ended up losing 3-1. Regardless of season outcome, the year did give us a good season by two of the most polarizing players for Twins fans.
A.J. Pierzynski had a great season in 2003, his last season with the Twins before he was traded away to make room for Mauer. Pierzynski slashed .312/.360/.464 and also hit 11 home runs, 35 doubles, and 3 triples. Even though it was arguably Pierzynski’s best season as a major league player he was unable to duplicate his All-Star appearance from the previous season.
While Pierzynski was polarizing because he eventually landed with the division rival Chicago White Sox. Matt LeCroy was polarizing because he was the player chosen over David Ortiz to stay with the Twins in one of the most regretted and reminded of moves in Twins history. While Ortiz clearly had the better career, LeCroy had a fine 2003 season backing up Pierzynski and playing DH as he hit .287/.342/.490 and had 17 home runs and 19 doubles. Sadly for the Twins and their fans, that would be LeCroy’s peak season.
In career years, LeCroy’s 1.2 WAR and Pierzynski’s 4.5 WAR put together combined for a 5.7 WAR. Pierzynski’s season lands him 7th all-time in WAR for Twins catchers and helps put the duo here as number two on our all-time list for catching groups.
The 2009 Minnesota Twins finished in first place in the American League Central with a record of 87-76. It did take them 163 games that season to secure that first place finish and defeating the Detroit Tigers and newly signed Twins closer Fernando Rodney to advance to the playoffs. Much of that season was fueled by one Minnesotan and his desirable sideburns.
At age 26 Joe Mauer put together his best season. Mauer slashed .365/.444/.587 and a 1.031 OPS. He also added 28 home runs and 30 doubles as hit himself into winning the Most Valuable Player Award at what is still considered the most demanding defensive position. He also received an All-Star selection, a Golden Glove, and a Silver Slugger.
Likely because of my age, when I think of Twins backup catchers Mike Redmond is the name that comes to mind. Redmond had 5 solid seasons with the Twins, this one actually being the worst of them all. His slash line was only .237/.299/.289 likely leading to why the Twins began giving some catching duties over to Jose Morales. In 54 games and his best season as a major leaguer, Morales slashed .311/.381/.361.
Mauer led this catching group to this position in our list. Going through this list has been a good reminder of just how great of a catcher Mauer was and why that monster contract was absolutely worth it at the time when he signed it as a catcher. Mauer owns the top 5 and 6 of the top 10 seasons by a Twins catcher according to WAR. His 2009 WAR of 7.8 (also 8th for all of baseball history) added with Redmond’s -0.9 WAR and Morales’ 0.5 WAR landed the 2009 trio with a combined 6.9 WAR and first on our list.
